I recently checked the status of my applications for a number of schools that had a December 15th deadline and two of my 3 letters of recommendation have not been submitted. Hopefully, it's just a case of my application status not having been updated. If not, though, my professors have failed to turn in the letters by the application deadline. Am I screwed? Or is there a different deadline for professors that are submitting letters of recommendation?

Yes, I sent several emails reminding them before the deadline and several follow-up emails after the deadline asking for an explanation. One professor responded a couple weeks ago, telling me to not worry and he will turn it in soon, but I'm still nervous that they've already screwed me over! Any information to put my mind at ease?

It depends on the school, and you just have to read through each school's website to find out what they say. Some of my schools had the same deadline for letters as for applications, others said there was an extra one/two/three weeks for letters to arrive, and still others said nothing (in which case I just assumed the deadline for letters was the application deadline).

If you're unsure, probably the best thing to do is to call each school and ask.

Letter deadlines are significantly more fluid than application deadlines. They probably haven't even compiled anyone's application yet, let alone started reading them, and that means everywhere. If it isn't in by the first week of January, I would send an email to the school's admissions secretary explaining what happened, but before then I wouldn't worry; even after then the chances of it mattering only really go up significantly by the end of January (when school starts back up in earnest after the winter break).

bfollinprm wrote:Letter deadlines are significantly more fluid than application deadlines. They probably haven't even compiled anyone's application yet, let alone started reading them, and that means everywhere. If it isn't in by the first week of January, I would send an email to the school's admissions secretary explaining what happened, but before then I wouldn't worry; even after then the chances of it mattering only really go up significantly by the end of January (when school starts back up in earnest after the winter break).

As long as the rec letter gets there with enough time for it to be put in your "profile", you're fine. They understand that professors are very busy, and can have urgent things come up. They probably are thinking "Oh crap! I have ______'s rec letter to write!" while they're reading yours